Wholesome solutions

When something is only bad, it becomes a massive problem with no apparent solution. Experts cannot solve it because it looks massive to them on the front side of the problem. They buy-in to the consensus of "it's only bad". The solution is in the back side of the problem, what's missing, hidden or overruled. Often it takes the scapegoat expressing his/her pain, the enemy getting heard or those unwilling to change speaking their minds. The solution incorporates how the something is not only bad, but also good for the bad, good some of the time or good when focused on instead of the bad.

For example, when being unproductive is only bad, it becomes a massive problem. The problem takes the form of burnout, stress-induced illnesses and downtime. The need to get back to being productive or to become more productive-- is chronic, never completed and always a problem. There's no way that being unproductive could be the solution while it's only bad. The massive problem goes away when being unproductive is a good thing too. It's good to take time off, to get our perspective back, to take a break to refresh our energy, to spin our wheels while we incubate an innovative alternative. I just shoveled the driveway after last night's snow and the idea for this post dawned on me while I cleared the pavement. Trying to come up with what to write was becoming unproductive.

The reverse is also true. When something is only good it becomes a massive problem. We become haunted by it's dark side that seeks to undo the good its doing. We have hell to pay until we see the something is not only good, but also costly, harmful, one sided or problematic. When we see how the good thing needs to be kept in check, considered in context, balanced with the opposite, the massive problem goes into remission. We realize a wholesome solution.

For example, when a pleasurable pursuit is only good, it becomes an addiction. We cannot get enough of it. Our appetite for it is insatiable. We obsess on getting more of it, taking time for it and doing it as much as possible. We pursue it with a vengeance that takes vengeance on our lives. We function as our own worst enemy and activist for our own ruin. We see no way out because the pleasure is only good. When the walls close in, the solution becomes obvious. The wholesome thing to do involves discipline and pleasure, moderation and indulgence, or control and freedom.

Wholesome solutions incorporate the problem in a different context. The problem in isolation looks formidable. In the context of keeping things in balance, it looks much more useful.